ArticleGlobal health action2018
Regional and sex-specific variation in BMI distribution in four sub-Saharan African countries: The H3Africa AWI-Gen study.
Article in Global health action, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and Correlates of Steatotic Liver Disease Among People With HIV in Uganda.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular sex differences and associated factors among adult population in Somaliland using insights from Somaliland demography and health survey.American heart journal plus : cardiology research and practice · 2026Review
- Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.AJOG global reports · 2026Review
- Anthropometric predictors of hypertension among Moroccan adults: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity among adult women in Tanzania from the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Prevalence of obesity among adults in Otjomuise Community in Namibia.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2025Article
- Article
- Cohort Profile: Africa Wits-INDEPTH partnership for Genomic studies (AWI-Gen) in four sub-Saharan African countries.International journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Ancestry-aligned polygenic scores combined with conventional risk factors improve prediction of cardiometabolic outcomes in African populations.Genome medicine · 2024Article
- Double malnutrition and associated factors in a middle-aged and older, rural South African population.BMC nutrition · 2024Article
- Article
- 10-year level, trends and socio-demographic disparities of obesity among Ghanaian adults-A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Cardiometabolic disease risk factors in pre- and postmenopausal women from four sub-Saharan African countries: A cross-sectional study.Maturitas · 2023Article
- Article
- Association between socio-economic status and non-communicable disease risk in young adults from Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Identifying sex-specific anthropometric measures and thresholds for dysglycemia screening in an HIV-endemic rural South African population.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Epidemiological correlates of overweight and obesity in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.PeerJ · 2023Article
- Obesity Pillars Roundtable: Body mass index and body composition in Black and Female individuals. Race-relevant or racist? Sex-relevant or sexist?Obesity pillars · 2022Article
- The impact of sex on blood pressure and anthropometry trajectories from early adulthood in a Nigerian population: insights into women's cardiovascular disease risk across the lifespan.BMC women's health · 2022Article
- Increased risk for type 2 diabetes in relation to adiposity in middle-aged Black South African men compared to women.European journal of endocrinology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
26 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAfrican populations are characterised by diversity at many levels including: demographic history, genetic ancestry, language, wealth, socio-political landscape, culture and behaviour. Several of these have a profound impact on body fat mass. Obesity, a key risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, in the wake of the epidemiological and health transitions across the continent, requires detailed analysis together with other major risk factors.
objectiveTo compare regional and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) distributions, using a cross-sectional study design, in adults aged 40-60 years across six study sites in four sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and to compare the determinants of BMI at each.
methodsAnthropometric measurements were standardised across sites and BMI calculated. Median BMI and prevalence of underweight, lean, overweight and obesity were compared between the sexes and across sites. Data from multivariable linear regression models for the principal determinants of BMI were summarised from the site-specific studies.
resultsBMI was calculated in 10,702 participants (55% female) and was significantly higher in women than men at nearly all sites. The highest prevalence of obesity was observed at the three South African sites (42.3-66.6% in women and 2.81-17.5% in men) and the lowest in West Africa (1.25-4.22% in women and 1.19-2.20% in men). Across sites, higher socio-economic status and educational level were associated with higher BMI. Being married and increased dietary intake were associated with higher BMI in some communities, whilst smoking and alcohol intake were associated with lower BMI, as was HIV infection in the regions where it was prevalent.
conclusionIn SSA there is a marked variation in the prevalence of obesity both regionally and between men and women. Our data suggest that the drive for social upliftment within Africa will be associated with rising levels of obesity, which will require the initiation of targeted sex-specific intervention programmes across specific African communities.
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